Of Magic and Matchmaking
by Hikaru a
Summary: Eriol is getting fed up with Sakura and Syaoran's neglect to tell each other how they feel-- so he decides to take matters into his own hands. (3/?)
1. The Taming of the Wolf

_______________________________________________________________________  
  
WARNING! Of Magic and Matchmaking takes place in an ever-so-convenient  
time that never actually happens in the series: when neither Syaoran or  
Sakura have confessed their feelings, Eriol is on the scene and has   
been revealed to be Clow's reincarnation, and has had his powers split.   
Sakura no longer has 'love' feelings for Yukito- she likes Syaoran,   
just doesn't know it--- yet. I have created my own OOC universe that's   
semi-similar to the TV universe, but not. Deal with it.  
  
This fic contains extreme cases of yaoi and yuri innuendoes; absurd   
OOC-ness; and many many puns on the behalf of Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo   
and Eriol. This is not cannon in the slightest. The weak of heart are   
not advised to read this- proceed with caution.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
  
Of Magic and Matchmaking  
by Hikaru  
  
  
Chapter 1: The Taming of the Wolf  
  
Touya scowled as he stared out the window of the Cafe Piffle   
Princess. He, in fact, much to Nakuru's dismay, had been scowling for  
the last twenty minutes, ignoring her completely. The aura he had been   
giving off tasted very bitter, and Nakuru was sick of it. She had a bad  
taste in her mouth, and was very tempted to order a super double fudge   
sundae just to try and rid herself of it-- not that she really wanted   
to eat anything. Human food tasted so awful compared to Touya's   
presence. Nakuru glanced back at Touya as she propped her head against   
her hand. Yep, still scowling. But what at? Nakuru turned to look out   
the window, trying to follow Touya's point of view.  
  
Oh.  
  
Now it all made sense.  
  
Across the street stood Sakura and Syaoran, Sakura being   
completely oblivious as always. The two were shopping, or rather,   
Sakura was shopping and Syaoran was just standing there, blushing   
furiously like a wide-eyed fanboy. Nakuru shook her head. Whenever she   
had seen Syaoran, he was blushing. It was sad, really; the poor boy   
could never muster up the courage to tell Sakura how he felt, though it   
was completely obvious to everyone-- except Sakura. Being keen on who   
has a crush on them wasn't too strong with the Kinomoto family. Nakuru   
turned to Touya and sighed softly. Yes, their family was definitely   
lacking in the "getting a clue" department.  
  
"Hey! To-ya, isn't that Sakura-chan over there with Li-san?"   
Nakuru turned to Yukito, who was sitting beside Touya, and glared. She  
had almost forgotten the stupid bunny had come with them to the Cafe--  
he was being unusually quiet. Of course HE would have to come and ruin   
their perfectly good date-- despite Touya's repeated protest that this   
was 'not a date'.  
  
"Yes," Touya mumbled, turning forward to his drink. He played   
with his straw to try and distract himself from the spectacle that was  
happening outside. "And that brat is with her again," he added   
bitterly.  
  
"Oh I think it's cute that Sakura-chan has a little boyfriend."   
Yukito smiled, despite the fact that Touya visibly cringed at the   
mention of the word 'boyfriend'.  
  
"I think it would be cuter if I could strangle all of the air out   
of his scrawny little body."  
  
"To-ya!"  
  
Nakuru sighed. Same old, same old. She turned back to watch   
Sakura and Syaoran shop. They were much more entertaining than the   
oncoming lover's quarrel between Yukito and Touya.  
  
However, Nakuru wasn't the only one watching the young couple in  
their adventures of shopping. Outside of the Cafe Piffle Princess sat   
Hiiragizawa Eriol: reincarnation of Clow Reed, and Harry Potter   
look-a-like[1], planning an 'evil scheme'.   
  
He crackled with a low laugher. "I'm planning an evil scheme," he   
said with a very evil grin on his face. He had been carefully observing   
his two descendants' interaction with each other with high interest. It   
was quite obvious to those around them that they had an interest in one   
another and, ever since the Yukito incident, they had been seen   
together more and more. Both had been evasive in showing their feelings   
towards each other and Eriol, frankly, was tired of watching it. Not   
that he was a stalker of the young couple, mind you; he just wanted to   
make sure of their happiness, because if they weren't happy, then how   
could he use them in his ultimate plan? Yes, Eriol had to arrange some   
way to get the neglectant couple together.  
  
Eriol had tried many plans already. The whole   
Yamazaki-Sex-Ed-Thing[2] hadn't worked, despite it's master planing   
thanks to the story-telling Yamazaki himself; nor had the whole teddy   
bear mess. No, this plan needed to be absolutely fool-proof. Eriol   
rubbed his chin with his right hand as he carefully watched the couple   
walk away from the outside gift shop, now heading towards the park. Oh,   
how Eriol wanted to go beat Syaoran atop of the head for missing his   
opportunity to take Sakura's hand up in his. "What a dolt..." Eriol   
sighed. "Does the poor boy have any experience with romance   
whatsoever?" He thought aloud to himself. It was then that the idea   
struck him. "OF COURSE!" Eriol shouted as he pounded his fist against   
the table, waking up a sleeping Suppi-chan. "I HAVE IT!" Eriol laughed   
hysterically, drawing the attention of some of the people sitting at   
the tables surrounding his.  
  
"Have what?" Suppi-chan wearily asked, rubbing one of his eyes.   
He had been up late spying on Sakura and Syaoran's scrabble game, as  
Eriol had ordered. He was to 'make sure they played the _proper_   
version a couple should play'.... whatever that meant. He fully   
intended to ask Eriol what the implication meant, but was suddenly   
stopped by the memory of Eriol's definition of a proper way of playing   
poker with Kaho. Strip poker. Sure, it's all fun and games until Eriol   
starts losing. Suppi-chan shivered at the memory, trying to push it far   
FAR away. "Nevermind," he muttered, yawning. "I don't want to know."  
  
"It deals with my two cute descendants." Eriol said, bringing up  
his cup of cappuccino up to his lips.  
  
Annoyed, Suppi-chan rolled his eyes, "I said, I don't want to   
know..."  
  
"Mmmyes," Eriol said, licking his lips free of the foam from his  
drink. "It's all so simple..."  
  
Not wanting to hear anything further of this plan, Suppi-chan   
brought out his handy mp3 player out from nowhere, and plugged the   
earphones into his ears. L'Arc~en~Ciel[3] was the choice of music   
today. He watched, with lazy eyes, as Eriol got more and more excited   
as he explained the workings of his plans, drooling even at times. His   
face became more twisted with excitement as well. The all-powerful   
reincarnation of Clow didn't even notice that Suppi-chan wasn't   
listening in the slightest, because he was so wrapped up in this   
scheme. As he drew to a close, Suppi-chan removed his earphones and   
made the mp3 player disappear into the same void that it had come from.   
  
"So," Eriol said, beaming at Suppi-chan, "What do you think?"  
  
"Sounds great," Suppi-chan said with a smile, unknowing how evil  
Eriol's plan really was.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Meanwhile, in the park down the street, a reluctant Syaoran sat  
on the swing next to Sakura's; uncomfortable with the situation he was   
in. Sure, he knew he was deeply in love with the his fellow Card   
Captor--as if anyone didn't--but he was still un-sure how he should   
show his feelings towards her. After all, his only experience with   
'love' was from his mother, who he more feared then loved. Treating   
Sakura the way his mother treated him would be, not only cruel, but   
stupid. Even sweet and gentle Sakura would, most likely, slap him   
across his face and stomp into the sunset.  
  
"Ano... Syaoran-kun?"   
  
The voice of Sakura snapped Syaoran out of his daze. Blinking out   
of his thoughtful state, the clumsy wolf turned to the girl next to him  
with a bright red face. "Gah-- Sakura don't hate me!" he said in a  
incomprehensible stammer.  
  
It was Sakura's turn to blink. "Huh?" She asked, confused.  
  
Shaking his head furiously, he stuttered, "No-nothing!"  
  
"Oh, okay." Sakura turned back to face front, watching the bamboo   
truck drive by in the distance. Birds cawed as the two young Captors   
sat in silence.   
  
  
Eriol approached the dismal display with a frown on his face. He   
quickly hid behind a tree before his two descendants could spot him.   
Might as well observe how terrible the situation was from up-close. The   
only up-close experience he had seen lately of these two was at school,   
and both of them were to embarrassed to do ANYTHING at school. But what   
he was watching now... this was worse than he had thought. They were   
just SITTING there! "Come on Li-san," Eriol whispered to himself. "Do   
SOMETHING!"  
  
"A thousand yen says that the little twirp blows his chance."  
Nakuru appeared out from the tree Eriol was hiding behind, hanging   
upside down from a very thin branch.   
  
"Oh, hello Ruby- I was expecting you to appear." Eriol said with   
a smile. "I think I'll take that bet. I have faith in my kawaii Chinese   
descendant. With no one around, he should be able to tell her."  
  
Nakuru blinked. "Did you just say your _kawaii_ Chinese   
descendant?" She swallowed hard. "You mean, Li?"  
  
"Yes." Eriol said flatly.   
  
Trying, but failing miserably, Nakuru tried to hold in her   
laughter. "Since when did you find boys _your age_ attractive, Eriol?"   
  
With a wry smile, Eriol shrugged off Nakuru's insult by posing a   
question, "How was your date with Kinomoto-san?"  
  
Nakuru grew silent. From the face that she made, Eriol could tell   
that it had been not as satisfactory as she had expected- which was   
predictable. He, himself, could not understand her continuing feelings   
for the boy, even after he had given his magical powers over to Yue.   
She could no longer feast on his powers like she used to, so why did   
she even care about him anymore?  
  
"That good, eh?" Eriol asked, his smile growing larger.   
  
"Oh shut up, you Harry-Potter-wannabe!" Nakuru folded her arms   
across her chest and frowned. Of course, since she was hanging   
upside-down, her frown appeared to be a smile.  
  
"You scare that poor boy more than you attract him, Ruby Moon."   
Suppi-chan said as he gently landed on top of Nakuru's hanging legs.   
With a loud 'SNAP' the branch that Nakuru had been hanging on (and   
Suppi-chan had been sitting on) had snapped in half, sending both an   
unsuspecting Nakuru and a unprepared Suppi-chan plummeting to the   
ground.  
  
Ignoring the loud crash from behind him, Eriol kept his eyes   
focused on the young couple in front of him. "Nevermind all of that. We  
need to focus here, people!"  
  
Nakuru pushed her way up through the mess of leaves, her hands   
wrapped tightly around Suppi-chan's neck. "Why you-" she growled, "You  
did that on purpose!"  
  
"Quiet!" Eriol hissed. Both of his creations fell silent,   
blinking at their master. "He's about to make his move!"  
  
  
"Ano... S-Sakura?" Syaoran turned to Sakura, butterflies running  
rampid in his stomach. He couldn't stop his body from shaking. He was   
so nervous!  
  
Playing with her hands, Sakura blushed faintly, "Uh.. yes,   
Syaoran-kun?"  
  
He paused for a moment, swallowing hard, "Um... I uh... I think   
we need to talk about something...."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
  
"You've got to be kidding me." Nakuru made a cross face at the   
couple. "There's no way someone could be so blind! Ne, Eriol, maybe you  
should create the CLUE card for these two...."  
  
"Hush Ruby-" Eriol hissed, "Give the boy some time!"   
  
  
Syaoran looked to the ground, his face completely beet red now.   
He didn't know how much more of this he could take before he would have   
to speed away, like he normally did when things like..... THIS... came   
up. "We've known each other for a long time, and..." He looked to her,   
swallowing as he did so.  
  
"And?" Sakura met Syaoran's eyes in a deep stare. Her green eyes   
brightly shown as she bit her lip, also nervous in this situation, but   
only because she sensed that Syaoran was nervous. What could he have   
been possibly nervous over?  
  
"Well I," He paused once again, swallowed, and turned another   
shade of red. "I want you to know that I--"  
  
"Sakura-chan!" A voice called out in the distance. It was Yukito,  
followed closely by a VERY-cross-looking Touya.   
  
With a smile, Sakura's head shot up as she waved to the two   
figures. "Yukito-san! Oniichan!"  
  
Syaoran looked absolutely horrified. If Touya was to spot him   
within fifty feet of his 'kaiju' sister, he would give him a pounding  
for sure-- or at least TRY, he noted, grinning.   
  
  
With the arrival of Touya and Yukito, all three "evil" spies   
face-faulted on top of one another, Eriol grumbling something obscene   
under his breath. "Doesn't that Yue know when not to interrupt?"  
  
"Oh he excels at popping in at the wrong time, Eriol." Nakuru   
replied bitterly, as she brushed herself off. She couldn't even count  
the numerous times that the DAMNED snow bunny had interrupted her and  
Touya's "time together", or lack of it. Of course, there was an equal   
amount of times when she messed with his head and made him pass out,   
but those didn't count; she was just doing what Eriol had told her. She   
didn't take any joy in doing it-- or at least, that's what she would   
say whenever asked.   
  
"BLOODY HELL!" Eriol shouted, snapping the twig in his hand in   
half.   
  
Both Nakuru and Suppi-chan blinked. "What?" They asked in unison.  
  
"It's an English phrase that I picked up while in England-- but   
nevermind that; look!" Eriol nodded to the playground, where Sakura was   
getting up from her swing and joining her brother and Yukito, leaving   
Syaoran all alone. "Yue and Kinomoto-san have ruined Li's chance!"  
  
A wry smile appeared on Nakuru's face. "You owe me a thousand big  
ones, Eli!"  
  
Eriol glared. "Don't call me that, unless you want to be shot   
into space[4] and never be found again." He looked back to Syaoran who  
was now sulking in the swing, looking down at the ground and kicking   
the sand beneath him. Shaking his head, a small evil grin appeared on  
Eriol's lips. "It looks like it's my turn to.... help... my two cute  
descendants."  
  
As Eriol walked over to the swing set, Nakuru and Suppi-chan   
watched in horror, fearing the worst-- but knew it was going to be  
much more frightening then anything they could ever imagine.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Syaoran was ready for Eriol, a fresh scowl on his face as the   
young black-haired boy approached him.   
  
Naturally, Eriol greeted him with a smile. "Good evening."   
  
Hiiragizawa was the last person he wanted to see at the moment.   
Syaoran had always been suspicious of the evil mage, always flirting   
with Sakura and ruining his chances. Eriol was most definitely strong   
competition for him; not only was he the reincarnation of one of the   
most powerful mages in the world, the Harry Potter impostor was also   
one of the top students in the class, rich as anything, and excelled in   
being a playboy (as he had observed first hand) and a very sly one at   
that. Syaoran himself had shivers sent down his spine once when the   
daft Englishman had some comment about him being his "cute descendant".  
  
"Buzz off, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran muttered as he kicked the dirt,   
"I don't want to talk to _you_ right now."  
  
Eriol tried his best to frown in disappointment-- which was very   
hard because, after all, this _was_ Hiiragizawa Eriol: Smile-Master. He  
felt sorry for the poor wolf, but couldn't help to smile because this   
fit his plan perfectly. Who cared if he owed Nakuru a thousand yen   
because the wolf had failed again? "I'm sorry to hear that, having   
troubles with Sakura-san?"  
  
Syaoran flinched, making Eriol's smile wider. At least he wasn't  
denying the problem. Putting his hand on Syaoran's shoulder, Eriol   
spoke softly, trying to calm his decent down a bit. "Ah, I see. Women  
are always a troublesome sort," he paused, leaning close to Syaoran's   
ear, "Aren't they.... Syao-chan?"  
  
His ears growing a hot pink, Syaoran sat up straight, shocked   
that Eriol had even _touched_ him, let alone whispered into his ear.   
"Uh..." he stuttered, trying to create a comprehensible sentence.  
  
"Don't be so scared, my Syao-chan," Eriol continued to whisper   
softly into Syaoran's ear, more quiet and sensual than he had before.  
"I won't hurt you."  
  
Unknowing what the proper course of action he should take, seeing  
as one of the people he most hated in the world was HITTING on him,   
Syaoran quickly thought up a way to escape. Using his old Yukito   
tactics, the young wolf blushed, panicked, and then ran away; flailing   
his arms around like a mad-man. Eriol watched, smiling, as his young  
decedent ran away. He chuckled slightly, "Well, the first blow has been  
dealt."  
  
Emerging from the 'hiding post' (i.e. the tree), Nakuru stomped  
over to Eriol with her hands on her hips. "What the HELL was THAT?"  
  
"My plan." Eriol said with a smile as Suppi-chan landed on his   
shoulder.  
  
"To confuse the poor kid all over again?!" Nakuru steamed. "He's  
finally realized that he doesn't like that fruit Yukito, and here you   
go making him think that he.. that he..."  
  
"Likes boys?" Suppi-chan added, guessing.  
  
"Yes! Yes!" Nakuru exclaimed, getting even more in Eriol's face.   
"How in the world is that going to help Li and Sakura-chan get   
together? I thought that was the objection of your plan!"  
  
Pushing his glasses back up his nose, Eriol's smile grew wider,   
one might even say-- sadistic. "Simple, my dear Ruby Moon. Once   
Li-san and I have become an... item... Sakura-san will get jealous, and   
she'll realize that she actually loves the silly wolf."  
  
Nakuru's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I still don't see how that  
will get them together, Eriol. You better start making sense, or, so   
help me, I'll call Mizuki-sensei!"  
  
Eriol paled. "You... you wouldn't."  
  
"Try me." Nakuru flatly said, fire burning in her eyes.  
  
"Okay okay," Eriol shook his head, trying to stop equivocating  
in his explanation. "As I am... how to say..."  
  
"...Messing with Li's mind..." Suppi-chan suggested, finishing   
off Eriol's sentence.  
  
"Yes-- ah I mean no! As I am... putting 'Plan A' into action-"  
Eriol whipped out a two small pieces of paper out of his pants pocket-  
one labeled 'Plan A', which had a picture of Syaoran glaring pasted on   
it, and one labeled 'Plan B', which had a picture of a smiling Sakura   
on it. Eriol shook his right hand, which held the 'Plan B' reference,   
"I will help teach the young wolf how to get the cherry, so to say,   
that he wants. I will then move into 'Plan B', which is to-"  
  
"Screw Sakura." Again, Suppi-chan finished Eriol's sentence for   
him.  
  
"ERIOL!" Nakuru screamed.  
  
"SPINEL!" Eriol screamed, turning a bright red.  
  
Suppi-chan simply shrugged, "Well one of us has to keep in touch   
with reality."  
  
With a slight glare, Eriol pushed his glasses back up his nose   
again, "Honestly, Spinel. I wouldn't think of such a thing! What a  
horrid thing to say-- your beginning to pick up Cerberus' lewd   
habits."  
  
"So what DO you intend to do with Sakura, Eriol?" Nakuru   
interrupted, beginning to grow slightly impatient with her young   
master. True, no matter what she said and how much she protested, she   
would have to follow Eriol's commands-- but she hoped that this didn't   
involve hurting Sakura in anyway; the brat, fine- Sakura, no.  
  
"I plan to woo her as well," he said, as-a-matter-of-factly. "The  
same basic tactic will be used against Li-san, for the same reasons."  
  
"Ah," Nakuru nodded.  
  
Smiling with a sense of satisfaction, Eriol rubbed his hand   
against his jacket. "I know, I'm a genius."  
  
Nakuru raised her eyebrow to that comment, and then, under her  
breath, muttered, "Genius, is not the word I would use."  
  
Of course, Eriol had not heard his creation's comment, and   
happily continued to chuckle softly, proud at his own brain to concoct  
such a plan as this- it was absolutely fool proof, and he would get to  
have some 'fun' with his descendants before it was all done.  
  
Oh yes, tomorrow was going to be one interesting day at school.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
The first to enter the classroom was Sakura, followed closely by  
Tomoyo. As usual, the two were talking frivolous girl-talk: Tomoyo   
pumping Sakura for information about her "date" (Tomoyo insisted that  
Sakura call it a "date"), Sakura screaming her usual "HOE?!" when   
Tomoyo asked if Syaoran had kissed her. Yes, it was like every other  
day.   
  
"So he didn't do ANYTHING?" Tomoyo asked as she placed her   
book-bag on her desk. She was disappointed in Syaoran, especially since  
it had been HER who planned that whole outing. She had given him   
special instructions to, at least, kiss her goodnight.  
  
Sakura shook her head, "Nope." Of course, Sakura was oblivious to  
Tomoyo's plan. She had found the previous day very enjoyable. Spending  
time with Syaoran made her all 'HYANNNNNNNN' inside-- but a different   
kind of 'HYANNNNNNNN' then she had experienced with Yukito. This   
feeling that she experienced when Syaoran was around was new and   
completely different than anything she had felt before. With a small  
laugh, Sakura then asked, "Why all these questions, Tomoyo-chan?"  
  
"Well it's just--" Tomoyo paused, trying to not sound as   
disappointed in Syaoran as she truly was. "--I mean, I'm relieved. That  
way I didn't miss anything I could film." She giggled slightly,   
whipping out her camera from nowhere. "Next time I want to come along   
to record, okay?"  
  
A sweatdrop ran down Sakura's forehead. "Uhh... sure..." She   
laughed nervously. Tomoyo could be slightly scary at times.  
  
The door to the classroom opened. Both Sakura and Tomoyo turned   
to see Chiharu and Yamazaki enter the classroom, who were in the middle   
of a conversation. "But Yamazaki-kun, we AREN'T cousins. We're a   
couple!"  
  
The trademark Yamazaki grin came to his face, "I know that   
Chiharu-chan! They're just dubbers, like they know the difference...   
You know, the ancient art of dubbing dates back to--"  
  
"Shut up, Yamazaki-kun." Chiharu ordered.  
  
"Good morning Chiharu-chan, Yamazaki-kun!" Both Tomoyo and Sakura   
called.  
  
"Hey Kinomoto-san and Daidouji-san!" Yamazaki waved as Chiharu  
glared at him murderously. "I've just been telling Chiharu about the  
odd people going around asking personal information about us. They say  
they're going to make a dub and--"  
  
Tomoyo shook her head, "Not now, Yamazaki-kun."  
  
Sighing, the story-telling Yamazaki threw his hands up in the   
air, "Well jeez, a man tries to tell a story and..."  
  
The classroom door opened again, revealing another student: one   
Li Syaoran. He looked tense and very pale, as if he was scared in some   
sort of way. The entire small group that had gathered in the classroom,   
blinked.  
  
"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, running over to him.   
"Syaoran-kun, you okay?" Her eyes filled with worry for her friend. She  
had never seen him look so-- frightened.   
  
Weakly nodding, Syaoran took a few steps into the classroom.  
"Yeah, I'm fine, Sakura. Just a little shaken." As he walked to his  
desk, the whole group was silent, staring at the peculiar Syaoran. He  
ignored them to the best of his abilities, letting out a very loud   
sigh as he sat down at his desk.   
  
Sakura approached his desk, the look of worry still clearly   
visible on her face. "You sure you're okay, Syaoran-kun? You look as if  
you've seen a ghost."  
  
"I wish that's what it was..." he muttered under his breath. The   
previous meeting of Hiiragizawa, this time in the HALL, had --for lack   
of a better phrase-- shaken him to the core. 'I swear, if he calls me   
Syao-chan one more time, I'm gonna-'  
  
"Morning all!" Again, the classroom door opened, revealing a very   
cheerful Eriol. His usual smile was much larger than normal, and his   
eyes seemed to glitter.   
  
Syaoran looked positively catatonic. A few minutes earlier, when   
Eriol had "bumped into" Syaoran, he had succeeded in pinching the   
later's butt while apologizing to him. 'Whatever happened to   
hand-shaking?' the poor little wolf asked himself as he thought back to  
what had happened between him and the black-haired menace.  
  
Laughing slightly, Sakura smiled back to the Clow reincarnation.  
"Good morning to you too, Eriol-kun. You look very happy this morning!"  
  
"As I should be, Sakura-san, as I should be." He approached the   
small gathering of students, staring directly at Syaoran, who was doing  
his best to hide behind his book-bag. "The morning has been absolutely  
wonderful, the day could only get better, ne?"  
  
Sakura nodded, continuing to smile, "Yeah!"  
  
"What's so special about this morning, Hiiragizawa-kun?" Tomoyo   
asked, turning her camera on him. "I've never seen you this happy before."  
  
"You know," Yamazaki butted in, ready to spew out his useless   
information. "Ancient Greeks believed that having a good morning meant  
that they were going to find their true love later-"  
  
"Shut up, Yamazaki-kun!" This time, it was Syaoran who silenced  
the fact-know-it-all. Everyone turned towards Syaoran, blinking.   
Usually, Syaoran was gullible enough to listen to Yamazaki's senseless   
babble; him telling Yamazaki to shut up was very odd indeed.   
  
Eriol's smile grew slightly wider as he walked to Syaoran's desk.   
"Ah, there you are, Syao-chan." Syaoran flinched as the others paled at  
Eriol's new-found nickname for the little wolf. Ignoring the others,  
he leaned down to his descendant and whispered loudly, "Trying to hide   
from me, eh? I do like a chase."  
  
Syaoran glared up at Eriol, fire swirling in his eyes, "What are   
you getting at, Hiiragizawa?"  
  
"Ah," Eriol's smile grew wider, "I'm glad you ask that!"   
  
A small present landed atop of Syaoran's desk. He blinked at it   
and then looked up to Eriol, as did the others, who watched the two   
attentively. "What is-"  
  
Glittering ever so brightly, Eriol's eyes looked up to the sky as  
he struck a dramatic pose, "When we had met in the hallway earlier, it  
slipped my mind to give this present to you...."   
  
Paling to a whiter shade, Syaoran squeaked, "Present?"  
  
Turning her camera again to Eriol, Tomoyo questioned. "Present?"  
  
Blinking innocently, Sakura asked, "Present?"  
  
All Eriol could do was smile.  
  
Luckily for Syaoran, while this whole ordeal was going on, the   
rest of the class had begun to file in, including Terada-sensei, who   
was preparing to start class. The entire class was staring at Syaoran   
and his "present", anxiously waiting to see just what Eriol had given   
him. Everyone knew that the two had never really gotten along, so this   
so-called "present" may have been very interesting indeed.  
  
Terada-sensei interrupted, clearing his throat. "The bell has   
rung class." The entire class turned to him, blinking. Their teacher   
continued, "Please take your seat, Hiiragizawa."  
  
Nodding, Eriol took his seat. "Yes sir."  
  
A loud sigh of relief was heard from Syaoran as Terada-sensei   
began his lesson. "Your English teacher is absent today class, so I   
shall be filling in for her."  
  
The class cheered softly as Terada-sensei sorted through the   
stack of papers that had been left for him. "We will spend the period   
translating scenes from Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Now, before   
you all go crazy with this, yes I know it's high level reading-- and   
that's why we will be working in partners for this assignment." A loud   
burst of excitement arose from the class.   
  
"However," the noise died as the students turned their attention   
back to their teacher, "I will be assigning the partners. A translated   
copy of your selected scene will be turned into me tomorrow. Each pair   
will have to read their translation aloud. Those who want extra credit   
are encouraged to act out their scene while reading." A collective sigh   
echoed through the class.  
  
Sakura looked over to Tomoyo, whispering, "I doubt we'll be   
partners, Tomoyo-chan. We could have done the opening scene together."  
  
A small smile came across Tomoyo's face, "Perhaps you'll be   
matched up with Li-kun! You two could act out the wedding scene!"  
  
"Yeah!" She said, turning to Syaoran, smiling. "Cheer up   
Syaoran-kun! This should be fun."  
  
Nodding slightly, Syaoran put a false smile. A wedding scene with   
Sakura WOULD be nice, but there was this uneasy feeling still irking   
him. The gift. It was still sitting before him on his desk, daring him   
to open it. His eyes restlessly watched the gift, that still laid on   
his desk. Perhaps, he could take this chance to get rid of it--   
somehow. Looking around anxiously, he found that no one was longer   
watching him. He quickly slipped the gift into his book-bag and slammed  
it shut, happy that he no longer had to stare at it's pink wrapping   
paper and red bow.  
  
"Li Syaoran!" Terada-sensei called.  
  
Syaoran's head snapped up, blushing slightly. Had he been caught   
not paying attention? "Yes Sir?"  
  
He smiled at the young Chinese boy, "Your partner shall be   
Hiiragizawa Eriol. Do you two have any preference for the scene you   
would like to translate?"   
  
"Act II, Scene II--" Eriol called out before Syaoran could   
respond.   
  
Terada-sensei cleared his throat. "Uh, Hiiragizawa-- you know   
that's the balcony scene, right?"  
  
Eriol nodded, "Yes, I am aware."  
  
"WHAT!?" Syaoran stood up from his chair, his mouth wide open.  
  
Snickers were heard throughout the classroom.  
  
Any hope that had filled the life of the young Li Syaoran drained   
from him at that moment, as he felt the world crash down atop of him.   
There was no escaping it, Hiiragizawa was determined to make a fool out   
of him. Shaking with anger, Syaoran slowly turned to face Eriol,   
glaring at the four-eyed evil mastermind. There sat Eriol, waving to   
Syaoran, smiling like always. Syaoran narrowed his eyes at the wizard.   
  
This was not going to be fun.  
  
The class split up into their assigned groups. Syaoran watched   
jealously as Sakura sat with Yamazaki, her assigned partner. It seemed  
to him that the Gods had cursed him today. He glared at the oncoming   
Eriol, and mused silently, 'Yes, definitely cursed.'  
  
"I hope you realize that we will be acting this scene out." Eriol  
said as he sat down in the desk next to Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran let out a loud GRUNT as Eriol sat down, continuing to   
glare at the four-eyed freak. "And why in the world would I even agree  
to that? YOU volunteered us to do the BALCONY scene! In case you didn't  
know, that's a scene with ONLY Romeo and Juliet in it!"  
  
"I am aware." Eriol said with a slight nod as his grin grew   
slightly bigger.  
  
An uneasy feeling came over Syaoran at the slight of that smile.   
His voice faltered slightly, "And there's no way I'm going to recite   
love poetry to YOU."  
  
Again, Eriol nodded, "I know that too, Syao-chan."  
  
The uneasy feeling swelled five times bigger as Syaoran swallowed  
HARD. "Does that mean that you want me to-"  
  
"Play Juliet?" Eriol asked, innocently. "Why of course. You are   
the ONLY person in this entire class, aside from Sakura-san, who could   
bring Juliet to justice."  
  
"I am NOT playing Juliet!" Syaoran growled, narrowing his eyes at  
Eriol. "And nothing you can say can make me agree."  
  
Frowning, Eriol entered into a state of mocking thought.   
"Nothing, hmm?"  
  
"Nothing." Syaoran retorted.  
  
"Even if you're grade in English is dropping Syao-chan? We BOTH  
know you need this extra credit so your mother won't get angry with you  
when she receives your report card." Eriol smiled devilishly.  
  
With a sigh, Syaoran broke his glare with Eriol, and, instead,   
glared at his desk. Eriol was right, which pissed him off even more.   
"So what, Hiiragizawa? That doesn't mean I have to play JULIET!"  
  
Again, that smile. "But of course you do, Syao-chan. Other than  
being absolutely perfect for the role," Eriol explained, "You are also  
the uke[5] of our relationship, since I am a few inches taller than   
you."  
  
Uke? That was the last straw. Syaoran pounded hard against his   
desk as he stood up, shouting "WE DO NOT HAVE A RELATIONSHIP!"  
  
The entire class froze. They looked at, the now beet red,   
Syaoran. Daring a look over at Sakura, he saw that Sakura looked   
positively shocked. She must have thought that he was referring to his  
and her relationship, whatever that was (the boy didn't even know   
himself).  
  
Terada-sensei cleared his throat; everyone went back to their   
work. "Li, I would advise you to begin translating. Anything you don't   
get done, will be homework."  
  
"H-hai, Terada-sensei." Syaoran stuttered as he stumbled back   
into his seat.  
  
Eriol's wry smile had returned, "Smooth, Syao-chan."  
  
Syaoran twitched, "Stop calling me that! Can we get going on the  
translation now, PLEASE?"  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Eriol asked, "Does that mean you will play  
the part of my Juliet?"  
  
Narrowing his eyes in a furious scowl, Syaoran growled, "Yes."  
  
Nodding in approval, Eriol handed Syaoran a copy of the book. The  
wolf quickly swiped it from his hands. "You won't regret this   
Syao-chan," Eriol said with a smile, "This is will be fun, I promise."  
  
'With Hiiragizawa involved?' Syaoran thought to himself. '"Fun"   
was not going to have ANYTHING to do with it. "Fun" for Hiiragizawa, is  
hell for me.'  
  
The little wolf knew the sneaky mage was up to something, he just   
couldn't figure out what. His lack of foretelling was a blessing, in   
this sense, for he could not see what disasters lied in the future.  
  
Muttering under his breath, Syaoran flipped through his book to   
the assigned scene. After reading for a moment, he put the book down  
and looked to Eriol. "I'm not really THAT feminine, am I?"  
  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
  
Footnotes:  
  
1. "...Harry Potter look-a-like..." : Well Eriol DOES look like the Big  
HP. Many people have refereed to him as this, but I'm giving CardCaptor  
Schlueter the credit here, since HE'S the one that made me think that  
EVERY time I see a picture of Eriol now ^^;  
  
2. "...Yamazaki-Sex-Ed-Thing..." : Tin-san's one-shot called "The  
Yamasutra". Read it.  
  
3. L'Arc~en~Ciel: My favorite J-POP band that I listen to while writing  
"Of Magic..."  
  
4. "...Unless you want to be shot into space..." : Again CardCaptor  
Schlueter... this is my reference to his HILARIOUS MST series. Thank  
you for making me laugh ^_^  
  
5. "...You are also the uke of our relationship...": Sited from Suppi   
no Miko's Rabu-Rabu Shrine - http://fenya.net/cardcaptor/rabu-rabu/  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
  
Afterword:  
  
*winces* That was fun, wasn't it? *laughs nervously* Ah, it's about   
time I finally got around to finishing this first chapter. I've only   
had the broken link posted on my page for over two months now _ I   
honestly didn't think it would take this long, or I would write THIS   
MUCH. I was shocked to look at the size of the file when I had finished  
the last paragraph. What a monster O_O And to think, two more just like  
it!?  
  
I hate to tell everyone, but Eriol and Syao-chan's little 'play' will   
not be acted out in this story. Instead, it will be a series of   
flashbacks. Sorry, but Act II, Scene II of "Romeo and Juliet" is WAY   
too long to put in the fic and boring for the readers-- not to mention   
it's kinda illegal (despite the fact that Shakespeare's plays are   
basically public domain). I will put in the parts that I thought would   
be humorous with E+S acting, but that's about it.   
  
  
  
Next: The Courting of Ms. Kinomoto  
  
"Honestly Sakura, do you actually LIKE it when he looks at you   
like that?" - Li Syaoran  
  
"I don't like this game, Hiiragizawa-kun." - Daidouji Tomoyo  
  
"H-hoe?" - Kinomoto Sakura  
  
"This is just the beginning of the game, my friends. Prepare to   
be entertained." - Hiiragizawa Eriol  
  
  
  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Disclaimer:   
  
Card Captor Sakura and its characters, images, story and content are   
owned and copyright of CLAMP, Kodansha, Mixx Zine, Bandai Visual   
Entertainment, EMOTION and that THING called Nelvana. I do not own CCS,   
nor will I ever. This was written for entertainment purposes only. 


	2. The Courting of Ms. Kinomoto

_______________________________________________________________________  
  
WARNING! This fic contains extreme cases of yaoi and yuri innuendoes;   
absurd OOC-ness; and many many puns on the behalf of Sakura, Syaoran,   
Tomoyo and Eriol. This is not cannon in the slightest. The weak of   
heart are not advised to read this- proceed with caution.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
  
"O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that   
cheek![1]" And with that Eriol's hand graced the smooth texture of  
one Li Syaoran's cheek. Everyone in the class gasped in shock. Sakura's  
jaw dropped to the floor.  
  
Squirming under Eriol's cold touch, Syaoran jumped back,   
frightened as a little rabbit. "AYYYYYYYYYY ME!" he screamed.  
  
  
  
  
Of Magic and Matchmaking  
by Hikaru  
  
  
Chapter 2: The Courting of Ms. Kinomoto  
  
  
Daidouji Tomoyo prided herself in one thing more than any of her   
other "talents". She had a sense for when strange things were afoot.   
That is why, she sometimes thought, her magical friends still allowed  
her to follow them around during their adventures. That, and they knew  
she would be upset if they didn't-- and no one liked to see an upset   
Tomoyo. So, when Li Syaoran left the classroom looking as distraught as   
a person who had just been told their cat had just died, she knew   
something was up. It could have been Sakura, as she had cut off all   
communications with the young wolf after his behavior in the class the   
day before. However, the infinite grin on Hiiragizawa Eriol's face led   
her to believe in a different scenario. Sure, they were all amused--  
minus that of Sakura-- by Eriol and Syaoran's little yaoi 'Romeo and   
Juliet' skit; but something was wrong with that insane grin. He should   
have not have been grinning like that as the English teacher issued him   
an after-school for a month; nor should he have continued to grin when   
she assigned both he and Syaoran to clean the entire classroom, after   
'defiling it in such a manner'. Eriol should have had the same shell-  
shocked look that Syaoran had plastered onto his face.   
  
Tomoyo looked back over to Syaoran with a sweatdrop on her   
forehead. "Okay, maybe not THAT shell-shocked," she mused aloud while   
watching the dismal display of the poor boy making his way across the   
school grounds. Tomoyo could not take it anymore. Gathering up her   
things, she hurriedly ran over to Syaoran. "Good afternoon, Li-kun!"  
  
He muttered a barely audible response.  
  
Tomoyo frowned. "Is there something the matter?" she asked,   
knowing damn well that there was. "With Sakura-chan, perhaps? Tell me,   
Li-kun! I'm worried about you."  
  
He turned his paled face towards Tomoyo. It appeared to be worse   
then she thought. "Not this-- Daidouji. You don't want to hear this."  
  
Folding her arms across her chest, a faint smirk came to her   
lips, "Try me."  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Hiiragizawa Eriol had always prided himself in one thing more   
than anything else: his keen wit. After all, he was the reincarnation   
of Clow Reed-the most powerful wizard ever-why wouldn't he be smart?   
So, when the brilliant plan of manipulating one Li Syaoran and one   
Kinomoto Sakura into admitting their feelings for one another, he   
thought nothing of the fact that his plan might actually fail. No, he   
didn't even perceive the fact that all this master planning might   
actually blow up in his face if he was not careful. He thought the   
first phase of his plan, the play, was quite intelligent indeed. Sakura   
had reacted in the exact way he had predicted and, despite the slight   
setback of his punishment, Syaoran seemed to be caving into Eriol's   
whims. His plan was perfectly unfoilable and undetectable.  
  
The Hiiragizawa mansion was enormous in size; approximately two   
football fields wide. The entire house had a spooky vibe to it. Perhaps   
that was because living at the residence was the Clow Reed   
reincarnation, along with his two elemental guardians. Or, perhaps it   
was the random screaming noise that echoed every hour, on the hour,   
during the weekends. Nakuru always liked to keep things interesting.  
  
The house was silent as Eriol walked down the hallway. His   
footsteps echoed as he headed towards the living room. He could feel   
Nakuru's aura waiting for him there, even thought she would be hiding.   
A game they played just about every day after school. With a large   
grin, Eriol threw his hat on his gigantic thrown chair. "Nakuru?" he   
called, "Spinel?"  
  
Nakuru appeared from the shadows, her schoolgirl outfit still on.   
It was Nakuru who believed that Eriol's whole master plan was a big   
mistake. She had told him from the beginning that the plan to   
manipulate Sakura into liking Syaoran through jealousy of all the   
attention Eriol was giving Syaoran was just ridiculous. How on earth   
was _that_ supposed to work? If anything, Nakuru concluded, Eriol would   
at the very least end up ruining Sakura and Syaoran's relationship, if   
not their lives. But, Eriol was never one to listen to anyone but   
himself. Eyeing her master suspiciously, she asked, "Have you ruined Li   
Syaoran's life yet?"  
  
Eriol let out a small chuckle as he turned to face his creation,   
"Oh ye of little faith. I have good intentions, Nakuru. Once Sakura-san  
and Syao-chan get together, you'll see."  
  
Nakuru frowned at that. "Somehow," she said with a very sarcastic   
tone, "I don't believe you, Eriol."  
  
A smirk came to Eriol's face, "When this works, Nakuru, you'll be   
begging me to do the same for you and Kinomoto-san."  
  
"Touya-kun is not a pedofile, Eriol," the moon guardian retorted.   
"And, if I wanted you to get involved with _my_ love life, I would have   
asked you to get rid of the sissy Yukito when you had the chance." She   
narrowed her eyes at the young mage, "I didn't protest when you allowed   
Touya-kun to give all his magical powers over to the snow bunny- even   
though he took all the yummy magical taste out of Touya-kun's aura."  
  
"Well, that was your--"  
  
Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of a doorbell.   
  
Nakuru turned to Eriol, her eyes wide, "Were you expecting   
someone?"  
  
Shaking his head, he said, "No, not until later tonight." The   
digital clock on Eriol's wrist read 19:00. "Sakura-san is not due here   
for another hour."  
  
"Sakura?" the older girl asked, her eyebrows raised. "Why is she   
coming here?"  
  
Rolling his eyes in annoyance, he snorted loudly. "Remember...   
phase 2 of the plan?" Eriol hissed.  
  
"Eriol!"  
  
"It doesn't matter!" Eriol retorted. "Answer the door, Ruby!"  
  
Letting out a loud huff, Nakuru pointed towards the door and   
said, "You answer it!"  
  
"No, YOU!"  
  
"You're the high-and-mighty wizard, four-eyes!"  
  
"I created you, you FRUIT!"  
  
Angry at that comment, Nakuru stormed towards Eriol, but was too   
slow. Eriol began to race towards the front door, laughing playfully.   
"I'm going to HURT you ERIOL!" Nakuru called.   
  
With another giggle, Eriol turned his face towards Nakuru and   
stuck his tongue out. "Catch me if you can, Ruby!"  
  
CRASH!  
  
Eriol collided with the wall next to the door, his price for   
taunting Nakuru instead of paying attention to where he was going.   
Bursting out into laughter, Nakuru leaned against the wall opposite of   
the door for support. Tears steamed down her eyes as she laughed and   
laughed at her master. It was not often that Eriol was put in his   
place.   
  
Glaring, Eriol decided that starting fight too close to the front   
door was both dangerous, and stupid. After all, a non-magic person   
would not necessarily understand the throwing of energy balls at one   
another, nor the incantations of mixed English and Chinese. The tall   
oak door was not strong enough to withstand such damage. Muttering   
under his breath, he swung open the door to find Daidouji Tomoyo. She   
was clad in a flowing empress cut dress, yellow with a underscore of   
white ruffles. Matching the white, was a big bow, tied under Tomoyo's   
bosom, to hide the seam of the dress. Oddly enough, Eriol noted, she   
was not donning any of her recording equipment-- not even her video   
camera was visible. It was very unusual to see her like this indeed.   
Her hair was down, flowing over her shoulders, with a dark glare   
plastered on her face.   
  
"Daidouji-san!" Eriol's jaw dropped. He tried to form a smile on   
his face but could only get his eye to twitch. "What are you doing   
here?" he asked, half-laughing.  
  
"You thought you could get away with it, didn't you?" she   
replied, ignoring Eriol's question entirely.   
  
Eriol paled. Did she know? How could have she had possibly found   
out about his plan? Perhaps she bugged the house before he had returned   
home.   
  
He turned to Nakuru, who was barely being able to hold in her   
laughter. That was it; Nakuru had told Tomoyo everything. He knew that   
she had been a little too anxious to find out more details of his   
master plan. He snarled at Nakuru's noxious school girl form, swearing   
that the moon guardian would pay. 'But first...' he turned and smiled   
once again at Tomoyo, 'Daidouji-san has to be taken care of.'  
  
"What are you talking about?" Eriol asked, blinking innocently.   
  
Tomoyo's eyes narrowed further, "Li-kun told me everything. I   
don't like this game, Hiiragizawa-kun." Never, in the time that Eriol   
had known her, had he seen Tomoyo as angry as she was. She reminded him   
of the irate English teacher who didn't appreciate his and Syaoran's   
rendition of 'Romeo and Juliet'. "How could you do this to   
Sakura-chan?"  
  
Sighing, he replied, "I don't know what to say, Daidouji-san.   
I... I'm in love with Li Syaoran."  
  
"Huh?" Tomoyo blinked. That was NOT the reply she was expecting   
to hear at all. "Wait-- so you're not trying to get even with Li-kun?"  
  
"Goodness no!" Eriol chuckled as he saw, using his peripheral eye   
vision, that Nakuru was leaving, a disappointed look on her face. Did   
she really think he would let his brilliant plan fail this easily? "I   
was merely just trying to show Syao-chan how I felt. I know all this   
hurts Sakura-san, Daidouji-san, but I can't fight my feelings for him.   
You must understand..."  
  
Again Tomoyo blinked. "Huh?" This _was_ Hiiragizawa Eriol, right?   
The one who loved Mizuki Kaho. The reincarnation of Clow. The stupid   
jerk who's gray eyes always made her have second thoughts about her   
feelings towards Sakura. Suspicious, Tomoyo glared at him. Behind his   
spectacles, his eyes looked as if they were almost sincere, a look that   
didn't happen very often from him. She gulped, "You're serious, aren't   
you?"  
  
Eriol didn't reply. Instead, he stared right back at Tomoyo, his   
eyes beginning to mist.  
  
It was then that Tomoyo's furious aura suddenly disappeared. She   
had forgotten why she was so upset at him. It was natural for Eriol to   
have a crush on Syaoran. Practically their entire class did, so it was   
nothing new, just un-expected. She nodded in understanding, and even   
smiled at him. Bowing apologetically, Tomoyo said, "I'm sorry to   
disturb you at this hour, Hiiragizawa-kun."  
  
Eriol waved his hand, as if it were nothing, "Don't worry about   
it, Daidouji-san. I understand why you were so upset. I shall see you   
tomorrow at school."  
  
"Goodnight," Tomoyo said, nodding.  
  
Smiling in return, Eriol began to shut his door, "Goodnight."  
  
Hearing it shut behind her, Tomoyo looked back to the large door.   
Something was a bit odd about what had just happened. As she thought   
about it, Eriol seemed to act extremely odd. In love with Li? Eriol?   
Something was not right about it. He was lying, he had to have   
been. She mentally kicked herself for falling for it. How could she   
have been so stupid?! She cursed herself under her breath.   
  
She would get to the bottom of whatever Eriol was   
plotting. She had worked too hard to get Sakura and Syaoran together--   
Daidouji Tomoyo wasn't going to let some horny magician ruin her plans.   
  
  
With the essence of her master filling the air, Nakuru looked up   
from her Physics book, "Is she gone?"  
  
Slowly entering into the living room, a smile on his face, Eriol   
nodded. "Yes, she's gone," he chuckled. "She thought she had caught me.   
The look on her face when I told her how much I loved my little   
descendant-- oh, it was too funny!"  
  
Looking back to her book, Nakuru ignored her master. "Great..."   
she said, pretending to be interested.  
  
"Still though," Eriol's smile faded. "I found it hard to lie to   
her like that. I almost slipped when she asked me if I was serious."   
Taking a moment to think, Eriol re-evaluated what had taken place. Why   
had Tomoyo made him feel so unsure? What was it about her long hair   
that made him think twice before he said anything?   
  
"Ah well-" Eriol shrugged, walking past a now captivated Nakuru.   
"I must get ready for the guest that I'm actually expecting. Do tell me  
when Sakura-san arrives, Ruby."  
  
Her eyes followed his figure as he walked out of the room. A sly   
smile formed on Nakuru's face. Daidouji Tomoyo. Could it be that Eriol   
liked her? "Perhaps it's time to give Eriol a dose of his own   
medicine."  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
The world was a dark place for one Li Syaoran. He was confused.   
He was lost. He was just downright sick. Eriol had been acting so   
strange the past two days. When one's arch enemy starts to flirt with   
you, one begins to worry. Perhaps Tomoyo was right in assuming that   
Eriol was doing this all to get even for something that he, Syaoran,   
had done to Eriol in the past. After all, there was the constant name   
calling, and.... Syaoran paused in his walk for a second, looking up at   
the full moon. Other than calling him names, there was really nothing   
else that he would call "bad" that he had done to Eriol. It was always   
Eriol who was doing *bad* things to *him* in fact. Perhaps this was one   
of Eriol's new ways of teasing him. But why would he go about this  
manner? Syaoran was used to the embarrassment. The person that it was   
upsetting more was Sakura, which concerned him.  
  
A shiver shot down through Syaoran's spine as he thought of the   
look Sakura had given him after class today. For a fleeting second, she   
had looked at him as if she wanted to stick her staff in...   
inappropriate places. Then her eyes flickered to her depressed look,   
empty and cold. The one that made his stomach sink. He wanted to go up   
and hug her, to tell her how he really felt-- to take the sad look off   
of her face and have her smile again. But it was Eriol that kept him   
there. She ignored him as she left after school. Their new trend of   
walking home with one another had been brought to a dead halt.   
  
Most likely, the little excerpt of 'Romeo and Juliet' was the   
problem. She didn't look too happy when the teacher had to stop Eriol   
and he from kissing. As if Syaoran WANTED to do that in the first   
place! He kicked and screamed, and even did some hair pulling, to try   
and convince the four-eyed freak not to do that. After all-- who REALLY   
wanted to see the two of them kissing? Eriol's argument was that   
Syaoran needed an 'A' on the project, by any means necessary. Even   
then, Syaoran had his doubts about Eriol's insistence that he "didn't   
want to do the kiss either." The Harry-Potter-Poser was enjoying their   
run-throughs a little too much. Eriol's daft smile never left his face   
during ANY part of their practicing-- or the performance, for that   
matter.   
  
Of course, Sakura might have also been upset by the anonymous   
love letter that was sent to him this morning. Syaoran had entered the   
classroom, that morning, to find a pink envelope with hearts drawn all   
over, with his name written in English cursive. She was turned around,   
staring at the innocent letter with big eyes. She looked as if she was   
about to cry. Far be it for Sakura to show her jealousy to Syaoran so   
obviously, she immediately turned around once Syaoran entered the   
classroom, keeping her eyes on her desk. When Syaoran had greeted her   
good morning, she replied with a mumble. A week ago she would have   
cheerfully greeted him 'good morning!' with a bright blush on her face.   
Syaoran missed that Sakura. Ever since Eriol had begun to.... hit... on   
him, she had been so withdrawn from him. The letter, of course, was   
from Eriol, thanking him for a lovely evening. How Eriol could EVER   
think a night of vigorous play practice was a lovely evening was beyond   
Syaoran's understanding.  
  
'Damn that Hiiragizawa!' Syaoran thought to himself. 'Damn him   
straight to the hell[2]!' Just when everything was beginning to pick up   
between Sakura and he, Eriol just had to come and screw things up.   
  
So why was Syaoran walking to the Hiiragizawa residence at seven   
in the evening all by himself? He glared at the English book in his   
hand. Eriol had SOMEHOW managed to leave the stupid thing in HIS bag   
that day at school. Syaoran had a sneaking suspicion that Eriol had   
done it on purpose too- stupid daft mage. When he had discovered the   
dreaded English book in his book-bag, Syaoran swore to himself that he   
would end all of this. He would return Eriol's book and demand the   
stupid wizard to leave him alone. He would just explain, on very simple   
terms, that he was not at all interested... he didn't like boys.  
  
Then Eriol would bring up the whole Yukito affair, no doubt.   
  
To which Syaoran would just simply explain he was only attracted   
to the power of the moon that Yue was radiating.  
  
And then Eriol would say something about controlling the power of   
the moon, if Syaoran so pleased it and then he would begin to slip off   
his--  
  
"NO!" Syaoran shouted aloud, shaking the thoughts out of his   
head. Panicked, he pushed his hand through his hair. What was happening   
to him? Why was he suddenly seeing things like.... THAT?! Eriol   
beginning to strip for him. No! It was just WRONG! "Syaoran! Get a hold   
of yourself!" he ordered, trying to jolt his mind out of its current   
train of thought.   
  
"Syaoran-kun?"  
  
Turning a bright beet-red, Syaoran whizzed around to see one of   
the factors in his current predicament: Sakura. She was still dressed   
in her school uniform, with her red coat buttoned over it to protect   
her from the cold Spring evening. "S-S-Sakura!"  
  
She blinked, and then smiled slightly at him. Her eyes were   
filled with a dark glow. Apparently, she was still hurt by the many   
things that had happened at school earlier in the day. "Syaoran-kun,"   
she repeated. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Here?" Syaoran squeaked, finally observing his surroundings. He   
was standing at the very gates of the Hiiragizawa residence. When the   
hell had he arrived there? God knows how long he had been wandering   
around the city, trying to understand what was going on. Yet, his   
subconscious still lead him to the dreaded mansion. He looked up at the   
tall, dark steel gate and swallowed. It was creepy. Maybe he was   
loosing his mind. "I've come to return this-" Syaoran explained,   
nodding his head towards the book in his hand.   
  
Sakura's eyes widened, "H-hoe? You've come to see Eriol-kun too?"  
  
"Too?" Syaoran questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You're here to   
see him as well?" He paused, letting his own question sink in. Well, of   
course she was here to see him. Who else would she be seeing at the   
Hiiragizawa home? Suppi? He cursed under his breath. Why did he always   
have to act like such an idiot?  
  
Used to his repeating questions, Sakura nodded her head, a new   
smile on her face. This was how she usually acted around him. Perhaps   
she was beginning to forget all that had happened in the past few days.   
"Ever since Eriol's magic has been split, I've been coming over every   
Thursday for training. You know," a blush appeared on her face, "Just   
in case Card Captor Sakura is needed again."   
  
As Syaoran was about to say something concerning the fact that   
the Sailor Senshi would protect the city from any impending doom, he   
was interrupted by a soft voice coming from behind him. "Arei!   
Sakura-san! You're already here!"  
  
Both Syaoran and Sakura turned to see Eriol, standing outside of   
the gate, a bright smile on his face. As usual, the little mage had   
used his stealth techniques to surprise them. Eriol always did enjoy   
the looks on both Sakura and Syaoran's faces when they were surprised   
like that.   
  
Sakura smiled and bowed to Eriol, "Good evening, Eriol-kun!"  
  
"Good evening, Sakura-san," he smiled in return.   
  
Eriol turned his attention to Syaoran, who was now snarling at   
his ancestor. His smile only grew wider. 'Yes, that's the way,   
Syao-chan... see how much you love her...'   
  
"Good evening to you too, Syao-chan." His eyes never leaving   
Syaoran's face, Eriol bowed slightly.  
  
Syaoran twitched. "I thought I asked you to stop calling me   
that," he spat.  
  
"Oh, did you?" Eriol blinked innocently. "I think it's cute-   
don't _you_ think so, Sakura-san?"  
  
Nodding in agreement, Sakura let out a small giggle, "You have to   
admit it is, Syaoran-kun."  
  
"Whatever," Syaoran rolled his eyes. Shoving the left-over   
English book into Eriol's chest, the little wolf muttered, "Here. You   
left this in MY bag, Hiiragizawa. Honestly, man, you need to learn what   
YOUR bag looks like. I don't want to tote around your books."  
  
His smile grew wider, "Thank you Syao-chan," Syaoran twitched. "I   
will try to do better in the future." He turned his attention back to   
Sakura, "Now then, Sakura-san... please follow me..." Eriol walked up   
the cement path up to his house, his smile still plastered to his face.  
  
Nodding, Sakura turned to Syaoran, "Well, I guess this is   
goodnight..."   
  
"Sakura?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
When her bright green eyes turned to him, the entire Japanese   
language[3] left his brain, leaving him speechless. Gods, she truly was   
beautiful. The way her mouth was curved, slightly parted. If he had   
been more daring, he might of actually tried to kiss her by now, but he   
wasn't- and this was not the time. Eriol was beginning to make his move   
on Sakura as well- and he had much more of a chance to take Sakura then   
he did of taking Syaoran, whether Syaoran wanted to admit it or not.   
Syaoran looked down to the sidewalk, "Hey, honestly Sakura, do you   
actually LIKE it when he looks at you like that?"   
  
"Like what?" Sakura said, innocently blinking.  
  
Syaoran wanted to say, 'Like he's going to eat you for desert,'   
but decided against it, seeing as Sakura didn't notice it. It must have   
just been his imagination. Jealous? Him? Nah. "Nevermind. Have fun   
studying tonight."  
  
Nodding, she began to follow Eriol. At his door, she turned and   
waved goodbye to her friend, "Bye, Syaoran-kun! See you tomorrow at   
school!"  
  
"Later, Syao-chan," Eriol called, waving as well. He smirked as   
he lead Sakura into the Hiiragizawa residence. "So what shall we do   
tonight, Sakura-san?" he asked Sakura as the two headed towards the   
gigantic oak doors, loud enough for Syaoran to hear. "Strip poker   
again, or how about something more enthralling?"  
  
Giggling, Sakura playfully shoved Eriol, "Oh Eriol-kun- be   
serious."   
  
Syaoran waved to the two exiting figures and muttered, "Bye..."   
once again wearing the 'I've just been hit by a train' look.  
Apparently, the whole Eriol flirting with Syaoran thing had not fazed   
Sakura's relationship with Eriol at all. As Syaoran had figured, of   
course, everything would be placed on his shoulders. It was his fault,   
somehow... always was.   
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
A humming came from the top of the stairs. Suppi-chan looked up   
from his copy of the morning newspaper with a sweatdrop forming on his   
forehead. Humming, as normal that action may be, was NOT normal for his   
master. In fact, when Eriol hummed, Suppi-chan knew something was up.   
The small cat-like-creature looked over to his companion, now in her   
human form, and said, "He's humming now, Ruby Moon."  
  
"I know," Nakuru huffed. "He's been humming all morning. You   
weren't upstairs when he began to hum the entire album of 'Magical   
Mystery Tour'[4]... I swear, he's SO lost it."  
  
"Who's lost it?" Nakuru and Suppi-chan whirled around to see   
Eriol standing there, dressed and ready for school. A bright smile was   
on his face.  
  
"Oh look, it's the Walrus," the sarcastic tone in Nakuru's voice   
was at an all-time high.  
  
"Good-morning my Egg-men," his smile grew wider, "I hope the   
evening treated you well." Walking over to the breakfast table, he   
continued, "I'm sorry I was absent for most of the evening last night.   
Sakura-san left very late last night."  
  
Giving him a dirty look, Nakuru replied, "I suppose you two had   
fun, eh Eriol? For God's sake, she's your descendant. Isn't that   
illegal or something?"  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Eriol looked up to Nakuru, "I would ask what   
you were insinuating, my dear Ruby, but I know you too well. If you   
MUST know, Sakura-san and I didn't have sex."  
  
"Right," Nakuru placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in   
front of Eriol, looking at him like he was a criminal. "So why was she   
here so late?"  
  
"She simply did not understand the incantation we were   
practicing, that's all." Eriol shrugged, gobbling down a forkful of   
eggs.  
  
Nakuru sat opposite of Eriol, laying on the table next to her was   
Suppi-chan, who had since gone back to reading the newspaper. "So then,   
Eriol," Nakuru gestured her hand towards him, "What's your brilliant   
plan for today? Seeing as this whole jealousy thing is... not   
working..."  
  
"It's working more than you think it is, Ruby," he said, pointing   
his fork towards the moon-guardian. "Syao-chan was extremely jealous   
last night over the fact that Sakura-san was coming into my house   
without him." Letting out a small chuckle, Eriol added, "It was so   
funny..."  
  
"But?"  
  
"Well," Eriol shrugged, "I do admit this whole jealousy thing   
isn't working as *fast* as I would like it to... so I've decided to   
speed things up a little bit..." Eriol took out a piece of paper from   
his pocket. The small scrap was covered in ancient Chinese symbols. A   
spell.  
  
Now Nakuru was interested, "Oh?" Her eyebrow raised, "What is   
that?" A smile formed on her master's face, but said he nothing in   
return. "Eriol?" There was a sort of pleading in her voice. She knew   
that Eriol was very determined to get Sakura and Syaoran together. Once   
he had set his mind on something... it was VERY hard to get him off of   
it. He would resort to anything to get what he wanted, even magic.  
  
There were few love spells that Nakuru actually knew of. Magic   
spells and incantations were more of Eriol and Spinel Sun's area, while   
she was more of the brute strength type of guardian. Eriol had tried to   
teach her how to perform incantations, but the powerful ones that were   
actually worth something took too long, and Nakuru was not one to be   
very patient.   
  
His smile growing slightly evil, Eriol finally spoke, "All I can   
say is, this is just the beginning of the game, my friends. Prepare to   
be entertained. The fun is just beginning. After I cast this spell," he   
held up the paper in his hand, "Nothing will be able to keep Sakura-san   
and Syao-chan off of each other."  
  
"Like rabbits in heat?" Suppi-chan said, still staring down at   
his paper.  
  
Both Nakuru and Eriol looked at Suppi-chan blankly.  
  
The small creature looked up to them both and shrugged, "That's   
how powerful the Ai-Ai[5] incantation is- you know that Eriol."  
  
Nakuru jerked her head towards Eriol, "Is that true?"  
  
Eriol shrugged, "The chances that the spell will be that powerful   
is very unlikely indeed... for it to be that powerful I would need a   
sample of their blood. I don't have that- nor am I going to ask for   
that... too suspicious..." Nakuru's jaw dropped. She never thought   
Eriol would go that far. "Well, it IS," Eriol replied, trying to defend   
himself against Nakuru's stare.  
  
"So what are you going to use instead?"   
  
"Hair samples," Eriol held up a small plastic baggy that had two   
strands of hair, one light auburn and one chocolate brown. "I grabbed   
some hair off of both of my descendants last night when they came to   
visit me- piece of cake." Nakuru still had a disapproving look on her   
face. "With the hair," Eriol continued, "The spell won't be as   
powerful."  
  
"Supposedly," Suppi-chan added, now looking up at Eriol with his   
beady eyes. "You've never tried casting this spell in your current   
form, Eriol.. nor on people who were powerful magicians like Sakura and   
Syaoran. The spell could be incredibly powerful."  
  
"Never the less," Eriol said, stuffing the plastic baggy back   
into his pocket, "I'm going to try it. It's for their own good, you   
know."  
  
Nakuru raised her eyebrow suspiciously, "The more you say that,   
the more I think you're doing this for yourself."  
  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
  
Footnotes:  
  
1. "...O that I were a glove upon that hand...": For sanity's sake, I'm  
taking their lines directly from the play. Yes, if they were   
"translating" it, they would be speaking in "romanji"   
(i.e. gurabu=glove), but I'm too lazy to do that.  
  
2. "...Damn him straight to the hell...": A CardCaptor Schlueter pun   
that I find myself constantly saying now.... "I am the Guardian of THE   
Hell!" *laughs insanely as CardCaptor Schlueter backs away*  
  
3. "...the entire Japanese language....": Well, they ARE supposed to be  
speaking Japanese, even though this fic is in English.  
  
4. "Magical Mystery Tour": The album by the Beatles. Yes, it's a pun.  
Get it, Magical? Get it?! -_-;;  
  
5. "Ai-Ai": The Chinese/English online translator says that "Ai" means   
love, just as it does in Japanese. So, the incantation literally   
translates to "Love Love".   
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
  
Afterword:  
  
After my extended absence, I've finally finished the last scene of this   
chapter. Yay! Sex, sex, sex, it's a common subject in this, isn't it?   
Yes, they're only in, what, fifth grade? Yeah it's wrong... but then   
again, so is this fic ^^; So I guess it all evens out, right? ^^;   
Sorry, I just can't help but imagine Eriol as the little debonair when   
it comes to the ladies; he's a player, and that can't be denied. *ahem*   
Well, other than the subject of Eriol's social status and preferences,   
I think this chapter when over very well.   
  
  
Next: East of the Kero and West of the Yue  
  
  
"Hiiragizawa, we gotta talk... about us." - Li Syaoran  
  
"My, my, Hiiragizawa-kun..." - Daidouji Tomoyo  
  
"Syaoran-kun? Eriol-kun? What's going on?" - Kinomoto Sakura  
  
"Um... err...." - Hiiragizawa Eriol  
  
  
  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Disclaimer:   
  
Card Captor Sakura and its characters, images, story and content are   
owned and copyright of CLAMP, Kodansha, Mixx Zine, Bandai Visual   
Entertainment, EMOTION and that THING called Nelvana. I do not own CCS,   
nor will I ever. This was written for entertainment purposes only. 


	3. East of the Kero and West of the Yue

_______________________________________________________________________  
  
WARNING! This fic contains extreme cases of yaoi and yuri innuendoes;   
absurd OOC-ness; and many many puns on the behalf of Sakura, Syaoran,   
Tomoyo and Eriol. This is not cannon in the slightest. The weak of   
heart are not advised to read this- proceed with caution.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
"Hey, Ruby-" Nakuru paused in her escape from the living room, a   
plastic bag in her hand containing two fine hairs. She turned to see   
Suppi-chan, sitting on one of the lounging chairs, staring directly at   
her with his beady eyes.   
  
Laughing nervously, she hid the bag behind her back with one   
fluid motion. She wasn't a moon guardian for nothing. "Yes,   
Suppi-chan?"  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Suppi-chan nodded towards her, "I know Eriol   
wouldn't want you to mess with his spell ingredients."  
  
"Mess?" Nakuru let out a chortle. An evil grin formed on her face   
as she shook her head. "I'm not 'messing' with anything, Suppi-chan."  
  
Of Magic and Matchmaking  
by Hikaru  
  
Chapter 3: East of the Kero and West of the Yue  
  
Beady eyes plastered to the television screen, the small sun   
guardian named Kero-chan was well absorbed in playing Final   
Fantasy X[1].   
  
Of course, his party was composed of Rikku, Lulu, Kimahri and   
Wakka. Sure, one girl of the party was missing, but Yuna was too   
annoying, and well- too weak. His reasons for having Wakka and Kimahri   
in his party were simple, but too pointless to mention. He might as   
well have just composed the party completely with Lulus, as he only   
used her in the battles. He liked to see her victory pose.   
  
Ah, the small joys in life.   
  
Suddenly, a small chill crawled up his wings, scaring him enough   
for him to pause his game. Sakura, who was behind him frantically   
getting ready for school, had apparently felt the disturbance, for she   
too paused. "Kero-chan..."  
  
"I felt it, Sakura." He turned to her, his beady eyes narrowed,   
if they could do such a thing. "Something evil is afoot here."  
  
Sakura returned to packing her books in her book-bag, "Oh, is   
that all?" She looked out the window, her typical smile on her face.   
Apparently, this revelation had not disturbed her as much as it had   
Kero-chan.  
  
A sweatdrop ran down the guardian's forehead, "Hey, this is a big   
deal, Sakura. How can you be so calm about it? This aura... it's very   
powerful."  
  
"It's Eriol-kun."  
  
"Huh?" Kero-chan asked, his sweatdrop doubling. "Why could Clow   
be giving off a--"  
  
Flinging open the window, Sakura screamed, "Good morning Eriol-  
kun!" Kero-chan's face fell to the floor. So much for causal plot   
devices.   
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Li Syaoran had seen strange things in the last week. So strange,   
that even Yamazaki's stories were starting to make sense to him.   
Describing him as a wreck would have been too kind. He was sitting   
outside, during their lunch break, by himself. With the cool grass   
underneath him, he sat under a tree, looking to the sky in a daze. He   
was trying to understand what was going on. And the more he thought   
about it, the more he became convinced that Tomoyo was right, and that   
this was a plot that the damned Hiiragizawa had created. He was just   
playing with their heads.   
  
But what if he wasn't? What if Hiiragizawa was actually being   
sincere? What if he really did love Syaoran? The question didn't scare   
Syaoran as much as he thought it would. In fact, he thought it a rather   
welcome thing. After all the attention Eriol had given him the past few   
days-- no, NO. He liked Sakura. Kinomoto Sakura. Not Hiiragizawa Eriol.   
No question, no debate.  
  
So why did he keep thinking about Hiiragizawa?  
  
Wrapped noodle bread sat next to Syaoran as he pondered. And   
unguarded food, while Yukito was within three miles, was never a good   
idea. When Syaoran finally snapped out of his catatonic state, he   
turned to where his bread had been placed, and found a Tsukishiro   
Yukito in its place. He had just finished devouring Syaoran's noodle   
bread. A sweatdrop appeared on Syaoran's head, "Y-You..."  
  
"Ah, Li-san!" Yukito beamed, delighted now that he had his second   
lunch. It was then that he realized that he had eaten Syaoran's lunch.   
He laughed nervously, "Sorry Li-san... I didn't know it was yours. You   
were so out of it, and you weren't eating, so... I assumed...."   
  
Syaoran waved his hand, "Don't worry about it. I wasn't very   
hungry anyway. Just deep in thought."  
  
"You look troubled... is anything wrong?"  
  
"No..." Syaoran lowered his head, "Yes. Yes, there's something   
_really_ wrong." He closed his eyes. "I'm so confused right now. The   
past few days... have made me question things."  
  
Yukito raised his eyebrow, "Question things? Like what?"  
  
Letting out a sigh, the little wolf replied, "...Question my   
feelings for Sakura."  
  
Plastic bag in hand, Nakuru couldn't help but smile. She had   
Eriol now. The bag that she carried contained two fine hairs. It was   
her proudest moment. She had stolen into Eriol's book-bag before he had   
left for school and taken it. There was no way she was just going to   
sit back and let her master cast an incredibly strong love spell on the   
two main characters. As much as fans would love to see Sakura and   
Syaoran getting it on like bunnies, she just couldn't allow it. Not   
just for the behalves of Sakura and Syaoran, but for the sake of   
keeping this fanfiction rated PG-13.  
  
Opening the bag, Nakuru took out one of the hairs. "Now to get   
rid of the hair samples," she said.  
  
"Hand them over, Ruby."  
  
Nakuru turned to find Eriol standing behind her, his hand out.   
Eyes widening, her jaw dropped. "How-How-- You can't be in this High   
School!"  
  
Eriol rolled his eyes. "Ruby, I'm a wizard. I can do whatever I   
want. Now, hand them over. It was very cunning of you to try and take   
them; of course, I knew all along that they were missing..."  
  
"You just found out didn't you?" she asked, an annoyed look on   
her face.  
  
"Shut up," he snapped back. Before Nakuru could react, Eriol took   
the bag back, protectively putting it into his pocket. "You're lucky   
I'm in such a giddy mood, or I do believe I'd have to punish you for   
this insubordination, Ruby Moon."  
  
"Giddy mood?" Nakuru rolled her eyes. "Get out of here before you   
get caught, little boy-" she patted him on the head.  
  
Looking at the bag, Eriol noticed something. "Wait a minute-   
where's the other hair?"   
  
"GAH!" Nakuru's eyes bulged. She had dropped the hair! Laughing   
to herself, she was glad that Eriol had snuck up so stealthily. Now he   
could never finish the spell, and it wouldn't be her fault. "I must   
have dropped it somewhere," she said, trying to sound helpless.  
  
Eriol kneeled to the floor and began searching for the dropped   
hair. "Ah," he said, finding a single hair on the floor. "Here it is,"   
he safely put it in the plastic baggy and sealed it shut. "I'll be   
making my leave now, Ruby," he said, glaring at his creation. "We shall   
talk about this later."  
  
Mockingly, she saluted him. "No problem, Eriol." As the boy left,   
she made a loud raspberry noise. "Stupid git, I wish he would just drop   
this plan already..." A sigh. Her back slouched over. She grabbed her   
school bag and began to walk. However, something on her hand caught her   
eye. Looking simple, shining up at her, was a brown hair. The hair that   
had been in the bag before Eriol had scared her. She looked nervously   
around her, and then back at the hair. "This... CANNOT be good."  
  
"... and Tomoyo just thinks that Hiiragizawa is playing a trick   
on me but he keeps on touching me and saying 'things' to me and I can't   
help but thinking of him now and Sakura is so mad at me that she's not   
even speaking to me, but she speaks to the git Hiiragizawa because she   
trusts him more than me and I just-"  
  
Yukito put his hand up, "Okay, Li-san. I think you've made your   
point." He smiled, "You're little confused by what Hiiragizawa-san has   
been doing- is that what you're saying?"  
  
Nodding silently, Syaoran looked down to his hands as he rung his   
wrists. "I don't know what I should do about this."  
  
"Have you tried to talk to Sakura-san?"  
  
Syaoran blinked. "Actually, she talked to me last night... and   
she didn't seem the least bit mad...."  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Yukito replied, "Then maybe she's forgiven   
you. Perhaps you should go talk to her."  
  
"And Hiiragizawa?" Syaoran asked with a loud gulp.  
  
Thinking for a second, Yukito folded his arms against his chest.   
"You should try to avoid him at if at all possible. You say he's making   
you feel uncomfortable, and you say that his actions are making   
Sakura-san angry... so just try to stay away."  
  
'You make it sound so simple,' Syaoran bitterly thought. Avoiding   
Eriol would be the hardest challenge he'd ever faced... other than the   
whole Sleeping Beauty thing. Shaking his head, he forced the memories   
far, far away. As much as he wanted to think of Sakura almost kissing   
him, now was not the time. Turning to Yukito, he said, "Thanks. I   
needed to talk to someone about this."  
  
"No problem, Li-san," Yukito said, patting the little wolf on the   
back. He let out a laugh as he saw the uneasy look on Syaoran's face.   
"Don't worry, everything will go the right way-- you'll see."  
  
Eriol's head popped out of a classroom. He scanned the hallway   
for any wandering students. No one. He smiled. Tip-toeing out of the   
classroom, he slowly slid the door behind him, careful not to make any   
noise. Cautious, he looked over his shoulder again, checking to make   
sure the halls were still empty. It was lunchtime, after all. Most of   
the children were outside playing. Simpletons.  
  
Silently, he snuck to the abandoned girls' bathroom[2], careful   
not to make any loud noises as he did so. Finally, he was home free.   
Leaning against the door as he shut it, he let out a sigh of relief.   
Now there would be nothing to stop him from his evil plot. He let out   
an evil laugh, as all villains do, as he opened up his backpack.   
Quickly, he set up the ingredients for the 'Ai-Ai' spell, which   
included a pentagram drawn in chalk; the two hairs he had extracted   
from Syaoran and Sakura; a ward with the incantation of the spell   
written on it; and a fluffy stuffed white cat that meowed when you   
squeezed its right paw.   
  
Don't ask.   
  
He placed the two hairs on top of the ward, which he then placed   
in the middle of the pentagram. It began to glow an ominous blue (as   
opposed to a bright and happy blue); the ward began to lift off of the   
ground. Eriol put his hands together, and began to chant in Cantonese.   
Since the author of this fanfiction isn't Chinese, you will be spared   
the elaborate incantation. Imagine words you can't understand with the   
occasional 'Sakura' and 'Syaoran' thrown in. There you go.  
  
A wind began to blow throughout the abandoned girls' bathroom.   
Eriol's hair whipped against his face. Finally, he shouted the last   
line of the incantation, literally translated to "LET THEM UNITE!"   
Thunder crashed in the background, as a freak rainstorm began in the   
girls' bathroom. With the rain pounding against his face, a grin came   
to Eriol's face. "It is done."  
  
Nakuru held her arms up to her face, to protect herself from the   
oncoming storm, much like characters do in anime. She looked up to the   
thundering clouds above. Her face paled. She was too late. Eriol had   
cast the spell already. Looking guiltily at the hair in her hand, she   
looked back up into the sky. "This _really_ cannot be good."  
  
Before Syaoran could say, "Holy triple header Batman[3]!", Yukito   
had transformed into Yue, and had spread his wings around him. Black   
magic had obviously caused the sudden thunderstorm. Sakura had   
entrusted Yue to protect everything that was dear to her, which   
included Syaoran. The little wolf looked up to the moon guardian,   
"What's going on?!"  
  
"Someone has cast a very powerful spell," Yue said ominously,   
narrowing his eyes at the dark clouds above.   
  
The loud snoring from within Sakura's knapsack stopped. Tomoyo   
and Sakura blinked as Kero-chan popped out of the bag. He had insisted   
that Sakura brought him to school that day, and it wasn't because he   
wanted to sneak her cupcakes (although that attributed to it). No, the   
feeling that something bad was about to happen just couldn't be shaken.   
Now it seemed that something bad had come to pass. "I hafta find Yue!"   
Kero-chan exclaimed, flying off into the storm. Blinking some more, the   
cherry blossom girl just looked to Tomoyo and shrugged. Typical day in   
Card Captor Sakura's world.  
  
Yue pushed Syaoran back protectively. He could feel the magical   
aura stick to him like a magnet. The surge of power was throbbing in   
his ears. If something didn't stop the spell soon--  
  
Just then, the rain stopped and the black clouds disappeared. Yue   
looked to Syaoran, whose eyes were now wide and colorless. "Y-you.."  
  
Instead of replying, Syaoran pushed Yue out of the way and began   
to walk towards the school. Using his moon guardian reflexes, Yue   
reached out to Syaoran's hand and held him back. "No you can't go-" he   
hissed, struggling with keeping a hold on Syaoran's hand. "Something   
dangerous is in that school I cannot allow you to go!" But since   
Syaoran was a master struggler, he finally broke free of Yue's grip and   
took off for the school.  
  
As Yue was about to follow him, Cerberus, in his fully-grown   
form, came and blocked his way. "Yue! We've got trouble."  
  
Not impressed and annoyed that Cerberus had again distracted him   
from his job, Yue looked to Cerberus with narrowed eyes. "Don't tell   
me. You saw ominous black storm clouds and felt an evil aura come out   
from the school."  
  
"...Yeah..." Cerberus blinked. "How did you know?"  
  
"Lucky guess," the moon guardian sarcastically replied.   
  
The two guardians looked to the school, an uneasy felling hanging   
in the air. Looking over to Yue, Cerberus asked, "So, what do we do?"  
  
Yue shrugged. "We're just here because the author needed to   
mention us somewhere in the chapter."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
Handing the first draft of this chapter over to Cerberus, Yue   
pointed out the title of this chapter was called 'East of the Kero and   
West of the Yue'. A toothy grin came to the lion's face, "Isn't that   
clever?"  
  
"Stop sucking up."  
  
"Hmm... 'East of the Kero'... doesn't that mean I have to stand   
on the _other_ side of you?"  
  
Yue blinked, "Yes, I believe you do."  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
There was a loud knock on the girls' bathroom door. Eriol stared   
at it. Had he been caught? And then he remembered that he was an evil   
genius, and evil geniuses _never_ got caught. So he called out, "Who is   
it?"  
  
"It's Syaoran," the voice from outside replied. "Hiiragizawa, we   
gotta talk... about us."   
  
Now, usually, this sort of proposition between these boys was not   
very common. In fact, any type of conversation that wasn't forced on by   
Eriol was unusual. This occurrence was very strange to Eriol. Syaoran   
wanted to talk to him? What on earth?   
  
Slowly he opened the door to the bathroom, peeking his eye out   
into the hallway. Syaoran was indeed standing there, alone, his hands   
on his hips. He was neither smiling nor grimacing, as he normally did   
in his presence. Something was very strange. Eriol opened the door the   
entire way, leaning on it for support, "What do you want, Syao-chan?"  
  
And then Syaoran did something very... un-Syaoran-like. Upon   
seeing Eriol once more, the small wolf could feel his heart begin to   
pound in his chest. Butterflies began to fly through his stomach. Any   
love cliche you named, he was suffering from it. Why had he never   
noticed how... attractive Eriol was? The dark hair, pale skin, strong   
magical aura. So alluring. He could resist it no longer. He lunged   
towards the small wizard, wrapping his arms tightly around Eriol's   
frail figure.   
  
"Syaoran what the bloody hell are you DOING?!" Eriol squealed as   
Syaoran squeezed out his supply of air.  
  
Locking onto his eyes, Syaoran hoarsely whispered, "Oh call me   
Syao-chan, E-kun[4]. I love it when you call me that. So..." a smirk   
came to his face as he enunciated each syllable of the word "sexy."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"I'm sure they are fine, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo reassured her   
friend as they walked through the hallways of the high school. After   
the freak storm that only lasted a few seconds, all the students and   
faculty vacated the school. Quickly. Naturally, that left it open for   
Tomoyo and Sakura to explore. Tomoyo had her camera ready.   
  
Sakura looked around the hallways nervously, her Clow staff in   
hand. "But... what Yue-san and Kero-chan said, Tomoyo-chan... about the   
dark magic. And Syaoran-kun ran in here..."  
  
A smile came to Tomoyo's face. "You're just worried about him,   
aren't you?"  
  
"Just a little."  
  
Closing up on Sakura's face, Tomoyo let out a squeal, "That is so   
cute, Sakura-chan!"  
  
"Aiya... Tomoyo-chan..." A sweatdrop ran down Sakura's forehead.   
Stopping in mid stride, Sakura narrowed her eyes as she sensed a wave   
of magical aura. "It's here," she announced, pointing to the girls'   
bathroom with her staff.  
  
Blinking a few times, Tomoyo took her eyes away from her camera   
and looked at her friend curiously. "In the girls' bathroom?"  
  
Shrugging, Sakura turned around, "That's where the source of   
magic is coming from." Turning back to face the door, she closed her   
eyes and whispered, "I'm sure of it."  
  
"Should we call out to see if Li-kun is already in there?" Tomoyo   
inquired.  
  
Shaking her head, Sakura moved her hand to the doorknob. "No,   
Tomoyo-chan-- it might be dangerous to let our presence be known." She   
closed her eyes again, taking in the powerful aura floating around in   
the air. "Whatever this was... is... it's very, very strong. Surprise   
would be the best element to attack it."  
  
A smirk formed on Tomoyo's face. "You're beginning to sound like   
Kero-chan, Sakura-chan."  
  
Sakura grimaced, "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that,   
Tomoyo-chan." With a quick jerk, Sakura opened the door, her staff   
pointed towards the center of the lavatory. She was prepared to fight.  
  
What she wasn't prepared for was to see was Syaoran and Eriol on   
the floor, sprawled out on a pentagram drawn on the floor. Syaoran was   
on top of the pile. His shirt was undone, and halfway unbuttoned. Face   
flushed, his eyes were wide like a maniac's. And he was... panting?!   
Her eyes quickly went to Eriol, who's situation wasn't any better. His   
shirt had been flung aside, crumpled in a forgotten corner. He was   
panting as well, with his glasses flogged, and a look of horror   
plastered to his face. And she didn't even know what the fluffy kitty   
stuffed animal had to do with it all. Dropping her wand, Sakura   
shouted, "What on EARTH?"  
  
Their panting came to a screeching halt. Both boys looked to the   
bathroom exit with pure dread on their faces.   
  
A smirk came to Tomoyo's face as she zoomed on the scene before   
them. "My, my, Hiiragizawa-kun... It looks as if you have gotten your   
wish."   
  
Sakura was still in a state of disbelief. Unable to decide which   
was more haunting: the fact that Syaoran was on top of Eriol, or the   
fact that he looked disappointed that they had been interrupted.   
"Syaoran-kun? Eriol-kun? What's going on? Why are you--" her words died   
in her throat. She couldn't say it.  
  
"Um... err...." was all the genius magician had to say, for he   
too was at a loss for words.   
  
What a tangled web he had woven.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Footnotes:  
  
1. Final Fanatasy X: Just another of my many obsessions. Squaresoft   
rules.  
  
2. Abandoned Girls Bathroom: Haunted by Moaning Murtle perhaps? Yeah,   
the HP jokes continue.  
  
3. "...Holy triple header Batman....": Oh the things we think of when   
we are bored.  
  
4. E-kun: Well he had to call him SOMETHING cute ^^;;  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Afterword:  
  
I can't believe that I let this chapter sit for so long. All that   
really needed to be done was the final--err--scene. Hehe. I am so evil.   
Of course BAD things have to happen in the girls' lavatory. Fate   
dictates that... or something. I promise that the next chapter will NOT   
take another year to be brought out. I should be beaten for making you   
all wait for so long. Bad Hikaru! Bad! Bad! Very Bad!  
  
Next: The Gift of the Clow  
  
"But I don't want to leave, _E-kun_" - Li Syaoran  
  
"This was not in the master plan." - Hiiragizawa Eriol  
  
"You- You're kidding right?" - Kinomoto Touya  
  
"Convenient for him, inconvenient for you." - Daidouji Tomoyo  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Disclaimer:   
  
Card Captor Sakura and its characters, images, story and content are   
owned and copyright of CLAMP, Kodansha, Mixx Zine, Bandai Visual   
Entertainment, EMOTION and that THING called Nelvana. I do not own CCS,   
nor will I ever. This was written for entertainment purposes only. 


End file.
